06 June 2011

Weehoo Bicycle Trailer

Thanks to my sister visiting we had time for a grown-up bike date yesterday so where did we go? The bike store of course!

While I was there the saleslady told me about a new child trailer, the Weehoo. Upsides are said to include the enclosed chain, the adjustable seat position, the fact that it *is* a seat (not a saddle) so the Future Cyclist could nod off without falling off, and it even has pockets for water bottles.

She showed me the video on the website and I instantly said "Wow, that looks like Colorado!" I was specifically thinking Lafayette, where my sister lives, but I wasn't surprised at all when I got to their Facebook page and see that they're based just down the road in Golden, CO. Now that Coors doesn't give out unlimited free beer at the end of the tour I don't know many people who go out there (except on a bike ride) but when we're home for another family wedding later this summer I may have to check out a Weehoo - it will be a while before we can use one, but once we can it looks like just the tool to resume our bicycle adventures!

7 comments:

- it attaches at the seatpost, which means you will "feel" the trailer much more than if it attaches at the rear axle (we towed kids in both kinds of trailer).

+ with one wheel, it won't tump over when you go around a bumpy curve too fast, it will tilt instead.

+ skinnier than a trailer, less of a pain with clearances that way, and its wheel will more or less follow you around bumps (unlike a trailer, with its out-of-line wheels).

- less cargo-ability -- often enough, a trailer gets used for groceries.

Soon enough, Future Cyclist will be a cyclist, and you'll be left with a spare widget. Plan B is to get, say, a front-cargo bike, say a CETMA Margo or Largo, and just put a kid seat on it. FC grows up. you'll still have a useful cargo bike.

Oh dr2chase - I wasn't considering this INSTEAD of a trailer, I was thinking more to return to our adventure cycling, on which there are no groceries bought... though you're right about the seatpost connection. I have that gorgeous aero Campy seatpost, so that would have to change, or Mr. Chic Cyclist would have to pull the Future Cyclist with his regular Thomson seatpost.As for cargo, I pack lightly for these trips, hopefully the little one will only need little things, though it's true that diapers are voluminous.

I don't know much about trailers and such, but the idea of having a trailing kid seat that becomes a trail-a bike seems like something that would have a fairly long useful life.

I've been jonesing for a cargo bike now for a while, even without kids. Today was a two pannier morning, as I was taking clothes to the dry cleaner for summer storage, clothes to goodwill, compost, and my normal work/ lunch bag.

I'm very fond of my Big Dummy, not sure if that fits your idea of adventure cycling, but it's nimble when unloaded, always comfy, and has the ability to carry a LOT of stuff (including a disabled bike and its rider, and in the case of a small cyclist on a small bike, I have done exactly this). I've done 100km in a day on it, and then spent the rest of the afternoon on my feet barbecueing. But it won't fit in a small apartment :-).